My author friend Jane Isaac nominated me for a Lovely Blog Award earlier this week. Since I need a writing exercise that keeps my keyboard fingers limber, I figure seven facts you (may or may not) know about me should constitute a simple challenge in my brain-dead state. (The rules indicate listing 7 facts and then tagging some fellow bloggers to ask them to do the same, so watch for the baton passing at the end.)

I was born at the Ohio State University hospital, making me a Buckeye… but in name only, since we moved away before I was one year old.

I first learned German when I was learning to speak–after we moved from Columbus to Kiel. I had this idea as a young girl, then, that I could speak German–which made for a rude awakening when we moved to Berlin when I was in 4th grade, and I was placed in a remedial German class.

I made up for having forgotten so much by moving up to an intermediate German class halfway through 4th grade.

I was in the double mother-tongue track by the time I was in 7th grade, meaning half my classes were taught in German–including French.

I’m still fluent in French and German. And I have some rudimentary Russian, Mandarin Chinese, and Spanish skills.

Because of my language abilities and international background I never expected to marry an American.